22.2.09

Romantic Comedies Aren't Just for Women

Continuing in the vein of movie reviews, here's a fantastic romantic comedy. With Aaron Eckhart at the helm of this split screen adventure through a previous romance reignited, this film fails to disappoint. Aaron Eckhart and Helena Bonham Carter play two long since separated lovebirds who meet again at a wedding. Aaron Eckhart is back in his usual role as the charming humanly male. While Helena Bonham Carter plays that woman who recognizes her faults but can't quite get over them, especially when it comes to being wooed by her previous lover. The tale unwinds as Mr. Eckhart and Mrs. Carter slowly leave the scene of the wedding to the more secluded location of Mrs. Carter's room. The magic of the movie is that the plot is obviously linear and you know what's going to happen perhaps even before the movie actually starts, but the script provides enough metaphysical twists and laughs that the movie is over before you notice that its started. Both Eckhart and Carter lend their fantastic abilities to make this film more human than those super sappy romances. The movie is so engulfing because of its realism. It's gritty and filled with emotion, it's not just happiness and it's not just sorrow and there's no ironic or twisted ending; It's everything you expect it to be, but mixed up in a bag of emotions that no one, neither the characters nor the viewer, is quite able to untangle before the credits start to role. The split screens throughout the film highlight the two separate views the man and woman have about their past and their present, which occasionally share a commonality, but more frequently are completely different. In the end, Aaron Eckhart sums the movie with a closing minute one-liner, "It's good to be happy, but so fucking hard, you know?" Currently available on Netflix (as a view instant none-the-less) and from Amazon starting at 6.5$ including shipping.View product details at Amazon.